As Promised

A typical Western Australian milk aisle in the supermarket.

Now, I’d say that’s a pretty impressive section – and we’ve visited Melbourne and Sydney and been in their supermarkets (which aren’t as impressive and don’t have as many varieties as pictured).

In fact, I felt a bit silly taking a photo of a large fridge and all the milk in it at the time, and now I’m glad I did.

Western Australia, Perth, Toodyay chilled flavoured milk aisle within the supermarket

I also feel like this photo doesn’t really reflect the sheer volume of flavoured milks that are on offer in Western Australia. I mean, this looks quite small compared to what I’ve seen. Imagine this four or five times over and you get a good idea.

I feel quite full just looking at it.

More Photos….

I’m enjoying posting photos with a bit of blurb. I realise this is quite different to everything Mum Friendly has been, maybe this is where it’s moving forwards to? We’ll see. Anyway, here’s some more pictures from Australia last July and August, 2022.

Hungry Jack's just outside Perth, Western Australia. Drive Thru sign lit up against the night sky.

Hungry Jack’s. Ahhh our favourite drive thru/takeaway in Australia (Although Shaun would probably add Chicken Shack to that as well) – we arrived in Perth and stopped here to grab food and milkshakes because we needed some sugary bad food to make us feel normal again after a day travelling from the UK eating airline food. The picture is blurry, annoyingly. But it’s clear enough to see, and here’s why Hungry Jack’s isn’t called Burger King. They serve the same food.

Master's Spearmint Milk. Reduced fat milk coloured green which tastes of spearmint. Delicious. Game changer.

“Uuuuurrghgg” say most people when greeted with this sight. But oh, how wrong they are. I get it though, I mean, the idea of a minty green milk (“It probably tastes like mouthwash”) which you drink and exists for FUN (rather than anything else significant) must be confusing. I’ll dig out a photo of the Western Australia milk aisle that I took from a few years ago – they have a very impressive selection and all the flavours. For now, let’s focus on Spearmint Milk. Surely one of the greatest inventions of all time? It’s tasty, minty, green and most significantly, different. I like to be different.

Teenager holding onto a shelter at Mundaring Weir, Western Australia. Her shadow is on the photo as well as some local greenery.

Finally – no food or drink on this one. Just H, her shadow and a shelter we passed by at Mundaring Weir. I was tired so H and I stuck together and did the shortest trail. I spotted this shelter and insisted she struck a striking pose which would create an interesting photo and this was the result. So it’s kind of staged but sort of real too, if that makes sense?

Mundaring Weir is interesting – a huge reservoir which transports water around the area (there are loads of gold pipes leading from the reservoir). You can walk across the dam walkway (H and her nana did, it was too much for me) and there are numerous trails around the area. When the water levels are low you can see a train track as well which I need to do some research on. I’m already having Ladybower Reservoir style “entire village appears when the water levels got really low” sort of feelings.

But that’s just my odd little head. The area around Mundaring Weir always has kangaroos (always!) and other interesting animals – and is always good for a wander. The Mundaring Weir Hotel is just up the road and has a decent selection of beers and food to try – we’ve often enjoyed eating then sitting in the arena-type area afterwards. We also got trapped there one year when there was a rally going on and we couldn’t cross the road to leave – which was fine, we just had more sunshine, beer and food instead.

I’m building up to a few reviews which will hopefully come very soon…. my head feels like it’s ready to have a good rant!

Catching Up from 2022

When I posted before it was way easier doing it with photos, so I thought I’d add three more that I really liked that summed up our Australia holiday back in July and August 2022.

A beach at Rottnest in the sunshine. Clear blue sea and golden sands.

This first photo is a beach on Rottnest Island. We finally went there after several Australia trips – we hired bikes (mine was terrible) and cycled around though I struggled. But the views, the scenery – the beaches! I mean, they say it takes a day to cycle around the island but I felt like it might take two – we got about half way before having to return (which could mean we would have made it back in time but we weren’t risking it). Obviously the number one reason to go to Rottnest Island was their Quokka population – and when you find that area you find all the daily tourists with their selfie sticks trying to get a picture of themselves with a smiling marsupial.

Kangaroo lying in the grass at Mundaring Weir

Let’s have a kangaroo picture though. Every time I’ve gone to Australia we’ve seen a kangaroo. They fascinate me – you don’t get too close to them, they’re the boss. If you’re really unlucky one will jump out in front of you while you’re driving (Shaun was driving, not me) – you need to slam your brakes as it’s a battle nobody will win. It was scary too. I think this was my first kangaroo sighting of 2022, with gazillions more to follow – but you always take that first photo just in case….

Then finally, let’s have the Perth skyline. It’s a favourite photo to take, I need to find older ones to see how much has changed – that’s why I like taking them – often the changes can be really subtle. It’s taken from Kings Park and Botanic Garden – and you have to admit, it’s pretty good isn’t it? Even though I say so myself. Even though it’s a photo I can imagine the busy-ness of everyday life – we stood taking in the skyline for quite a while.

Perth skyline from Kings Park, Western Australia

So here’s three photos. Three different parts of Australia. Did you know Perth is the most isolated city in the world? You do now.